Character Sheet Commands
Statement of Intent We are trying an XP model that hopefully emphasizes stories rather than sheets. In CG, characters are given enough dots to raise them to the power level of a reasonable ancilla. This is done so that characters will have relatively static power levels (as vampires are supposed to be stagnant) and achieve character growth through RP and activity rather than automatic XP. When doing their sheets, players are encouraged to give their characters a niche, an area where their character will have four to five dots. Five dots in a sheet must be justified with concept or background (as in “My character is a Gangrel bruiser” is sufficient to justify Vigor 5, and “My character is a renowned Theban Sorceror” is enough to justify Theban Sorcery 5.) If a player wants to play a weak human or neonate, they can do so by leaving a portion of their dots unspent. They can be spent later at the conclusion of a story arc, or whenever the player feels appropriate. Outline In this game, there is no auto XP. There could be a room, which is a CG room but also a self-statting room. Characters can go in there at certain points in the game to add stats to themselves. They either pick the stat and the code spends the XP, or the code checks that XP has been spent correctly before they are let out of the room. Removing stuff and refunding XP is done by staff. Also non-standard costing stats are put in by Staff. When a New character goes into CG Room, they are given: *Command to choose template and set character details (Concept, Mask, Dirge, Humanity, Touchstone, Bloodline, Age) *Command to set a stat on themselves *Command to remove a stat from themselves *Command to check how many dots they have to spend in that stat-group (ie. Attributes, Merits, Devotions, etc). *Command to set notes and comments on themselves. In the basic rooms, characters are given some dots where they can spend with abandon and then not need staff approval. They can RP straightaway afterwards. After the basic rooms, they are given a prompt, that asks them if they want to RP or continue into the bonus rooms, where they get some more dots and XP, which they will have to go through staff approval to spend. Characters that chose to skip the bonus rooms the first time round can go back to it later. Anytime they want to spend on something from the bonus room, they will go through manual staff approval. Vampire – How to handle XP cost variations Characters choose between the five Clans. When they are designated as one of them, a sort of sub-template is triggered. They are granted one more dot as their Clan's favoured attribute, and they are taken into a room where they spend in-clan disciplines for 3XP (as opposed to the default 4XP). For example, a character designated Gangrel will get one more dot to spend on Stamina or Composure, and they go to a room where they can only buy Animalism, Protean, and Resilience, at 3XP. OR What if In-Clan-costing disciplines are designated differently in the system than Out-of-Clan-costing disciplines? For example, Gangrel characters should buy Protean (I), and they get charged 3XP, whereas everyone else buys Protean, and they get charged 4XP. How CG might look like from the front-end: 'Basic Rooms' 'Choose Template' Mortal, Vampire, Ghoul. Vampires and Ghouls choose Daeva, Gangrel, Mekhet, Nosferatu, Ventrue 'Choose Attributes' Characters get 18 dots to spend in total. These dots cannot be converted to XP and must be spent on Attributes. Characters can leave some unspent if they so choose. In the basic room, they cannot get any of their Attributes higher than 4. Before they complete this step, the system checks that: *No Attributes are higher than 4. *Only one (or less) Attributes are at 1 or lower. *They have spent at least 12 dots (the traditional 5/4/3 spread). If the character satisfies these criteria, they can proceed to the next step. Vampire characters get a prompt at this step telling them to put another dot into their bonus Clan Attribute. 'Choose Skills' Characters get 36 dots to spend in total. These dots must be spent on Skills or Skill specialties. Characters can leave some unspent if they so choose. In the basic room, they cannot get any of their Skills higher than 4. Before completing this step, the system checks that: *No skills are higher than 4. *They have spent at least 22 dots (11/7/4 spread). *They have set 3 Skill specialties. *It checks the total number of dots in a skill group (Physical/Mental/Social). The total number of dots in the lowest Skill Group cannot be lower than 4. The total number of dots in the second lowest Skill Group cannot be lower than 7. If the character satisfies all of these criteria, they can proceed to the next step. 'Choose Merits' Characters get 34 dots of Merits to spend, in addition to 2 free Languages and 3 free Vampire Statuses (City, Clan, Covenant). *Status Merits that are above 2 cannot be bought automatically. *Merits associated with Influence Spheres cannot be bought automatically. *Merits dependent on location (Haven, Wyrm Nest, etc.) cannot be bought automatically. Before completing this step, the system checks that: *At least 10 dots have been spent (not including Languages and Vampire Status). *2 dots of languages have been spent, representing a character's first and second language. *For Vampire characters, 3 dots between City, Clan, and Covenant. The basic rooms end here for Mortals. They are then asked if they want to RP or go into the bonus rooms, where they can spend some of their unused dots on restricted stuff, and wait for staff approval. Vampires and Ghouls have a few more rooms to go: 'Choose In-Clan Disciplines' Vampires get 13 dots to spend on in-clan Disciplines. Ghouls get 6 dots to spend on in-clan Disiciplines. Before completion, the system checks that: *No Disciplines are higher than 4. *At least 2 dots have been spent. 'Choose Blood Potency:' Vampires get 1 additonal dots to spend. Before completion, the system checks that: *The Vampire has at least a Blood Potency of 1. *The Ghoul has 0 Blood Potency. The basic rooms end here for all characters. They are then asked if they want to RP or go into the bonus rooms, where they can spend some of their unused dots on restricted stuff, and wait for staff approval. Characters can always go back to spend unused dots. 'Bonus Rooms:' 'Attributes' Characters can now use any leftover dots to set Attributes to 5. 'Skills' *Characters can now use any leftover dots to set Skills to 5. *If they want more Skill Specialties, now is the time to request it. 'Merits' *Merits that can be bought here are still the same as the Baic Rooms. *Status Merits, Influence Sphere Merits,and Location Merits are still restricted. 'Disciplines' *Characters can now use any leftover dots to set Disciplines to 5. *Vampires get bonus 12XP to spend on Clan Disiciplines and Covenant Disciplines, and they also get 8XP which can only be spent on minor powers such as Devotions, Themes, or Rituals. *Ghouls get bonus 6XP to spend on Clan Diciplines. 'Blood Potency' Vampires can now raise their Blood Potency to 3 with 1 more additonal dot given. Unused dots are always “stored” so that characters don't lose them if they don't spend them immediately. People can choose to play neonates or weaker characters by just not spending dots. At this point, finishing the CG will generate a job that puts the character in a queue for Staff approval. 'Later in the game:' Once per month, or more frequently by request, characters can go back to the bonus rooms to spend XP or unused dots. They don't need staff approval at this stage, unless they are buying a Status, Location, or Influence sphere-related Stat, or some other custom made Stat. After they finalise their sheet, they will be locked out of the Character Sheet rooms until the next month. Stats that have been “finalised” in past sessions cannot be removed by a character. Stats that are in the “current editing session” can still be removed by the cahracter if they make a mistake. Characters earn Beats from Aspirations, facing a Breaking Point, Conditions, turning a Failure into a Dramatic Failure, running plots, reccs, and good sportsmanship. These XP can be spent on anything.